Becoming Jane Rizzoli
by undoingtech
Summary: AU. How Abbie Carmichael became Jane Rizzoli. Honestly, how has no one done this before?


_So this is how it starts_.

Jane was staring at her new murder victim, at _him_. She felt numb, yet she could hear the sounds of crime techs as they milled about and see every detail of his death-tainted face. She was surprised she had avoided this issue for so long.

"Looks mid-thirties to early-forties. This guy's got a nice suit, but no wallet, no keys. We could be looking at a robbery." Korsak pointed out while taking in his surroundings. They were on the walkway of a public park, one made more ominous by the dark morning hours. The body was half on the shoveled path, half in the snow bank, tainting the pristine white with red and pink. Despite Korsak's observations, he had yet to notice that his former partner had uncharacteristically frozen.

Dr. Isles was also too preoccupied examining the body to notice the lack of detective work her best friend was displaying. "I'll be sure to notify you of any possible identifying marks or procedures. Temperature of the liver in conjunction with frigid conditions indicates death was two to four hours ago."

"David Price."

Both pairs of eyes flew to Jane, their owners realizing that this was the first time Jane had spoken at the crime scene. Jane's gaze never wavered, eyes focusing solely on the victim.

"Do you know this man, Jane?" Maura asked gently.

Jane sighed heavily and snapped off her latex gloves. "I haven't seen him ten years. I wouldn't say I know him." Jane answered in an even tone.

Maura and Korsak shared a glance, both wondering why there was no inflection, no Rizzoli attitude in Jane's voice.

"I'm taking leave until you close this one." Now they gaped at Jane, who was turning to leave the crime scene. Korsak stopped her just before she went under the crime scene tape.

"You wouldn't say you knew him yet you quit because of him? What's going on, Jane?"

Jane turned and made eye contact with him for the first time that day. She still felt numb and he could see no expression on her face. "I'll be at Maura's. Come over if you have questions for me."

* * *

The couch beckoned Jane the moment she walked through the door, and she all but crashed into it. Her exhaustion had nothing to do with getting called into a murder at ridiculous-o-clock in the morning.

Despite her exhaustion, she knew she wouldn't sleep. Her mind wouldn't rest now that she knew her colleagues, her friends, were investigating David Price. It had her wired, but she knew that this state was just the calm before the storm. And that is why she went to Maura's. When a storm comes, be it Hoyt or Bianchi or crazy family drama, it all ends up here, so Jane figured she'd save herself the extra trip this time.

So there she lay doing one of the things she abhorred: waiting. Waiting for Bass to make it through the kitchen, for Maura to come home early, for her mind to stop racing. Waiting for the storm to hit.

* * *

Half an hour later, Jane felt a burst of cold come through the door. It was too soon for anyone investigating to come, so that left Frankie and Angela. Jane's bet was on Frankie since she didn't hear a demanding 'Jane!' the moment the door opened. Yet when she lifted her head, she saw an uncharacteristically hesitant Angela slowly peeling off winter layers. Weird.

"Hey, Ma."

And just like that, Angela's invisible restraints disappeared. She swiftly maneuvered to take a seat with Jane's feet in her lap.

"You know Maura hates having shoes on her couch." she lightly admonished while ripping the shoes off of Jane's feet. She instantly regretted it as the smell got to her.

"Lord almighty! Not even your father's feet were this bad!"

For the first time that day, Jane smiled. She instantly raised her feet to Angela's face, skilfully avoiding batting hands.

As they settled, Angela began to rub the feet and calves in front of her. "Vince called. He asked about David Price."

The muscles in her hands tensed. She kept rubbing, hoping to keep a connection with the woman attached to them, but Jane pulled out of her grasp and sat up with a small space between them.

"What did you tell him?"

"Only that I knew he was in a trial back in '03. And I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you never told him."

Jane shook her head.

"No. It never came up. I'm actually surprised it hasn't come up for so long. I should have told him and Frost about it. Hell, and Maura, too."

"Well why don't you tell them now? Save them the trouble of figuring everything out themselves. Everything happened so long ago! Why did you take off work for this?"

"Ma, I am not touching this investigation with a hundred foot pole. _This stuff_ is the kind of stuff I don't want to ever deal with ever again. Ever. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to talk about it. I just want to sit here and be happy that he's dead and never deal with _this stuff_ again."

Angela pondered in silence for a moment. It was scary to see Jane hop on leave so quickly, especially when it came to _this stuff_ , as Jane so elegantly put it. But Angela understood Jane's logic. Jane had hidden this part of herself for so long that she was afraid no one would trust her when it was revealed. If Jane's partners didn't trust her, Jane might as well not have partners at all. It would be devastating, especially since Jane had stayed in Boston to become a police officer. Jane had to know she had a place here as family, too.

"Vince and Barry are going to ask you about 'this stuff' eventually. I just want you to know that no matter what happens, you can come to me."

Jane reached out and clasped Angela's hand.

"Yeah, that goes without saying. What, you think I'm just gonna up and leave?"

Angela looked down at their hands and stayed silent.

"Gee, thanks for your faith in me, Ma. I've been here for over ten years. I'm not going anywhere. So no worrying."

Angela let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She swept Jane into a tight hug, thankful that Jane allowed it.

* * *

 **A/N: This is my first story, so please let me know if it makes no sense, or if it does. I have a feeling that it might only make sense to me or be confusing. Is it good, is it bad? I have no idea what I'm doing. Plz review. It's the only way I can tell if it is any good or not.**


End file.
